Happy April All!

My name is Ashley and while I'm a native Ohioan, I've lived just outside of Glacier National Park in NW Montana for 2.5 years now. I'm pretty sure our Canadians are my closest neighbors in this group! I'm a Registered Dietitian working for the IHS and the Blackfeet nation. I'm also a 500hr yoga teacher and am working on becoming an NBC-HWC (Nationally Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach) through Legacy Holistic Health Institute and can work with people to get my sessions needed to sit for the exam in Nov.

I'm 34 and recently married (I was dragging my feet for...well...forever) and we have an almost 16-year old son. I'm a proud cat mom to 5 and a dog mom to a year old Alusky named Atlas. My husband is a former Marine and combat vet with some really serious PTSD, so we don't really get out much and do normal people things. However, we love being in the wilderness hiking, kayaking, backpacking, etc. and we'll be doing a lot more since he's planning on doing the PNT and/or the CDT next year.

I try to be as active as I can most days of the week. I suffer from a lot of joint/muscle pain and fatigue that can be really prohibitive. I thought that I was just out of shape (even though it literally made no sense), but it turns out that I have hEDS. So now I try to be a little more forgiving with my body. I love to lift weights, practice asana, Pilates, HIIT, bike, and run. I'm training for the Glacier Half Marathon...but we'll see how my body holds up in the process. I'm a Garmin junkie so if any of our new members want to connect, my profile is here

My goals are loosely weight based. I was always a petite person until I started working desk jobs. This is my highest weight ever, but I've been doing a lot of resistance work, so I'm hoping that part of it has been the muscle noob-gains. I'm more focused on body recomposition than anything in hopes that I can gain/strengthen enough muscle to help stabilize my joints and keep me active.

Now that intros are done:
PW: 146
CW: 146.8

So last Tuesday I was working out and cracked my ankle on a piece of equipment. There was just this whole cascade of pain for the rest of the week in the rest of my body. I couldn't even stand long enough to make dinner, so that was super annoying. I don't know if it was related, but it was definitely coincidental. That means that I only did 2 runs last week and skipped the long one. I'll hit it this week since from now on, my long ones will be 10k+ and I can't fit that in during work anymore. I'll have to run outside on Saturdays and I've been waiting for the weather to break.

I also told my guys that I noticed my weight creeping up steadily since they started having me take the extra serving of dinner for lunch the following day. I'm going back to my original lunches to see how that affects things. I also got myself a super cute Blendjet (in Geode) so I can make my smoothies on the run without waking up the whole house in the morning.

3/26
Sunday: 3066 steps
Monday: 6255 steps + 32mins lifting + 52 mins yoga
Tuesday: 9808 steps (incl. 1.38mi run) + 31 mins lifting
Wednesday: 5523 steps + 30 mins lifting + 33 mins yoga
Thursday: 4507 steps + 24 mins yoga
Friday: 11240 steps (inc. 3.11mi run) + 24 mins yoga
Saturday: 2676 steps

@CupcakeCrusoe oooo, you found the Lisa Frank one! Yeah, those are pretty! I have to figure out the best ratios now to use in a smaller blender, but I go through phases with smoothies and apparently I'm in the midst of one right now!

Also - fun little challenge I found. I was reading an article by another RD and she recommends 30 different fruits/veggies/herbs throughout the week for a healthy microbiome. I preach this to my people all the time (along with probiotics), but I've never actually seen how diverse my diet is. As of yesterday, I started seeing how many different F/V and herbs I eat to see if I can hit the 30. It really doesn't seem all that difficult, but we'll see. If you guys decide to participate, each F/V= 1point and herbs/spices=.25points

@ashleycarole86 - nice to know it's not just me with the binging tendancies. I'm in the same boat as you and trying to find ways to manage my emotions without eating.

@CarolAnnM2 best of luck on the surgery

@LoraineGB so many trips in the next while. I imagine Cancun was amazing regardless of the eating

@TessieMac833 good decision to come back. I'm new to going back to school too and also work full time - it's no joke taking classess along with life, It's stressful.

Weigh in Monday - sorry posting late
PW-169.4
CW - 171.2

Had a overindulgant weekend but not letting it get me down. Today is a new day of the week

Morning all!

I’m Chelsey, 33-years, married, and one dog who just celebrated his 7th birthday on April 1st! I still can’t believe it. I live in New England, and I am thrilled that the weather is finally getting warmer which means longer walks outside.

I hit my lowest weight back in 2020, when I was working from home everyday and had time to workout in the afternoon and take long walks after work with my husband and dog. I switched jobs in 2021, and while I absolutely love what I do, it was an adjustment with a new busy schedule, COVID related tasks, and travel.

Now that I'm into year 2 of my new role, I think I am finally getting into a good groove and the stress is starting to go away. I work in Human Resources as a Business Partner, and a lot of times, it has felt like we get things thrown at us from everywhere. I am now changing my mindset about work items, and I am no longer working 12+ hours a day daily.

So far this week, I have done a hot yoga class on Sunday, and a strength workout and some flexibility work on Monday. I felt very sore on Tuesday, so I opted to use that as a rest day, and in less than an hour, I have a spin class at my local studio! 😊

Nutrition wise, Sunday and Monday were decent because I pre-logged and stuck to it, but yesterday I went "off script" and had a bowl of ice cream after dinner. I did a preliminary weigh-in this morning to check how I am doing, and I think I am on track for a loss this week which is fantastic, and a nice reminder that one bowl of ice cream is not going to undo all the other good work I have done so far this week.

Happy Wednesday all!

@jugar glad you're back home after what sounds like a difficult time with your dad (although your exercise 'game' with him sounds wonderful); hope your stepmom has a good social network for support.
I did weigh last Thursday 174. I will stay unofficial for this month but will still weigh in please.

@PlaneMonkey I'm with you on the lack of exercise motivation. I'm hoping planning, with the nicer weather, to at least go for a 20 minute walk in the evening. With gardening season here, there will be more incidental exercise too. Planks? not for me.

CW 176.4

That made me sad, but it was 178 earlier in the week, so it is, what it is.

Yesterday wasn't great, but not as bad as monday, no exercise got done, and I have not even hit my step goal yet. UGHHHHHH

Now the good news, I got up this morning and exercised. Even though it's only 10 minutes, it seems to set the tone for the day...

I booked for an adventure in June, so far now, I have a camping trip every month from now thru September... Some are cabin, some are tent... husband complains about tenting being too much work, but I actually find it easier than cabins. So I'm trying to mix it up to keep him happy.


Have a great day !